DISNEY MAY BE PROMOTING ILLITERACY!
Yes you heard right.
I know, I can't believe it either.
Let me explain:
Beauty and the Beast is a film that I hold close to my heart - it is a film that says 'it doesn't matter what you look like as long as the person you like has a mansion and a huge library.' Seriously - Belle is the only one of the disney princesses that doesn't fondle over the first guy she sees - instead, having a little 'something something' for bestiality... Hey, to each to their own, right? I mean, if Daniel Radcliffe can do Equus, why can't Belle be with the Beast?
Anyway, I love this movie - so imagine my surprise when I discover that Disney mocks the protagonist for reading?
Let me explain:
At the start of the movie, you'll remember a song called 'Belle's song'.
Basically, its all about Belle complaining about living in a provincial town... So to escape from it all, she reads books. The first one we notice her reading is 'Jack and the Beanstalk' (to which i expressed a slight twitch in my left eye, but nonetheless).
So basically, Belle likes to read.
And in this song: EVERYONE bags her for it!
I know what your thinking: you're all thinking to yourselves "I want proof dammit!"
FINE! I'LL GIVE YOU PROOF!
Ladies and gentleman, exhibit A!
THE LYRICS TO THE SONG SHE SINGS!
Townspeople: "Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar, I wonder if she's feeling well."
So you think to yourself - why? Why is Belle so peculiar?Oh, don't worry, they explain all that within the next lyrics:"With a dreamy far-off look, and her nose stuck in a book - What a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle"
...You mean, she's weird because she reads?
Oh, and don't forget, she has a 'dreamy far-off' look too!
*le gasp*
HOW DARE SHE!
What is this saying to little kids who have hopes in becoming an author? Or merely, children who just like to read?
OR JUST LIKE TO DAYDREAM!
THAT WE WILL BE WEIRD?
I'm sure Shakespeare, Dickens and Dahl have something to say about this!
...Or well, before they all died anyway...
Exhibit B
If lyrics weren't enough, lets see the faces of these criminals! These accusers of the written word!
Picture one: okay, so the two elderly woman in the background may be making fun of Belle's ape impression... OR THE BOOK IN HER BASKET! :O
Picture three: The most compelling and shocking evidence of them all: EVEN when Belle tutors little baby sheep in how to read, she attracts the 'evil eye' from a disheveled woman in the back! Let me remind you, this is all because she is READING! Or because she likes to daydream! 
Picture four: THEY AREN'T EVEN SUBTLE WHEN TEASING HER! I mean, the LEAST they could do was give her silent, disproving faces or quiet grunts of disapproval here and there... but no! Belle has to be followed like Angelina Jolie taking the rubbish out!
I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!
This is NOT right!
I've got this theory that this is all part of Disney's dream to turn children off books and onto TV instead - as a result, transforming them into a horde of mindless zombies to which the company will use to take over the world.
Not a likely thought, but a 'chin-stroker' theory at that...
My final thought (yes, Jerry Springer isn't the only one who has these):
As a student partaking in a professional and creative writing course, I say 'FOR SHAME DISNEY!'
'FOR SHAME!'
I thought the point was that even though everyone makes fun of her for reading, she couldn't care less and runs off with her hunk with the Library (eschewing a certain 'handsome' yet illiterate drongo) and remains the most awesome Disney heroine ever, doing her own thing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, she seems to be one of the only disney princesses with a head on her shoulders!! (I mean, she's better than sleeping beauty who, at the first 5 seconds upon meeting a guy, falls 'in love') She is definitely my favourite out of the lot in that respect!! I just can't believe that EVERYONE in this small provincial town makes fun at her for reading!! Like its so unusual!! But as you said, this could have been done to show/emphasize her independence and how she couldn't care less. You bring up a very good point! :-)
ReplyDeleteAll i can say is that boy am i glad that she didn't end up with this fella:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NyJnBxAi5xE/R49vT5P5EFI/AAAAAAAAACY/Bu5hxQSVS4Y/s320/gaston.jpg
for starters, belle is my second favourite disney chick- ariel is my favourite cause when i was a kid i wanted to grow up and be a mermaid. i agree with the lyrics being incorect but the theme of the song is not to promote illiteracy but i also think that the song works both ways as it shows her inability to live in the real world, choosing rather to daydream then adapt to her environment.
ReplyDeleteeither way i think your right. i just wanted to show the other side to the song, isall.
Helsinki
If I was a disney character I would be Belle. did you see her eyes when she say the amount of books in sexy-beasts' library!? i was drooling at the sight. though i do agree with both helsinki and you tory!!
ReplyDeleteclearly pixar are better. have you seen the previews to UP? YOU HAVE TO ITS AWESOME!!
i love the giant bird
hahahaa! Ohh Gilly - i can just see your cartoon self giving the same expression upon seeing masses upon masses of books :P
ReplyDeleteUP looks so good!! I love that dog with the collar that talks...
and he's like "SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!"
heh heh heh!
I am still anxious to see monsters vs aliens!! Dayum that looks funny!!!
and helsinki, i'm surprised at you. Ariel is one of those disney princesses that falls in love with the prince the first 5 seconds upon meeting her! i thought belle would be more your kinda gal!
The princesses have very little going for them; the only one who really shows any gumption is Mulan, who is just to ground-breakingly awesome the Captain falls for her. Unlike everyone else, who have these vapid, paltry "Love-at-first-sight" stories.
ReplyDeleteJasmine, too, is a little more believable, as Aladdin portrays an escape from her suffocating life. Course, he just falls for the hot bod and the cash, but then he's pretty bright otherwise, so maybe he falls genuinely in love with her sometime between the first and second movie.
More to the point, in this town where apparently not a single person other than Belle reads, and people think this behaviour is totally abhorrent, there just happens to be A LIBRARY!
ReplyDeleteI read this post and wonder how anyone could publish their writing on the internet BEFORE proofreading for spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. It's embarrassing to ponder the levels of illiteracy in America. So few people seem alarmed that so many ignore the rules and common sense when trying to communicate by way of the written word.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you're kidding because this is bs.
ReplyDeleteThe town mocks her for reading because in that time, a woman reading was seen as absurd and improper. And the song shows that while everyone else is off working or shopping, doing normal life things, belle, an adult, is still dreaming. Adults should live in real life, so of course the town thinks she's odd. We have to keep in mind the time period. Disney isn't promoting illiteracy, they're setting the theme of the movie and creating the setting in which it takes place.
If Disney wanted to promote illiteracy, then why would they have a publishing company? A publishing company that, may I add, publishes books unrelated to Disney's movies and other franchises. Ever heard of Percy Jackson? A hugely successful children's book series? Yep, published by Disney.
And another thing, you've got the theme of the movie all wrong. It's not about being independent (yes she makes choices for herself but that's not the main theme. In fact, she only met the Beast because of what she did for her father). It's about finding the beauty within. Belle is beautiful, but not vain. And it is thought that no one could love the Beast due to his hideous appearance, yet Belle falls in love with him regardless because of who he is on the inside, not the outside. This is emphasized even more when Disney throws Gaston in. Gaston is outwardly beautiful, but inwardly ugly. Notice how Belle knows this and dislikes Gaston because of who he is. Also notice that the whole town fawns over Gaston's beauty and thinks he's great, even though he's wicked. And when the town is shown the 'hideous beast'? They immediately think he's nothing but evil without even knowing him.
Belle is my favorite too because she isn't shallow, and actually has a moral compass.